Thursday Bolts – 7.14.11

KD said he was going to take the playing overseas thing real slow: “We’ll see, I would like to try something new,” said Durant, a two-time NBA scoring champion. “But, of course, my first option is playing in the NBA. So now I want to see how this lockout goes. If not, I will make a decision on where I am going to play basketball. D-Will, you know, he made his decision quick and I am sure you are going to see a lot of guys follow in his footsteps. So, he’s very brave to be the first guy to do it.”

Don’t worry, if you buy tickets, you’ll get a refund if the season’s canceled: “The opportunity to receive a refund plus interest is a league-wide policy. Oklahoma City Thunder officials were unavailable to comment on the amount of interest they would offer their season-ticket holders, but the NBA has suggested a number to its teams. All of the league’s teams are under a gag order to not speak publicly about anything related to the lockout.”

Jerry Colangelo has started trying to put together the USA’s Olympic roster: “The current U.S. roster is about 30 players, but Colangelo said there are truly closer to 18 candidates for London. Referring to the roster from Beijing, he said “three or four of those spots are vulnerable,” but then named seven players from 2010 who would immediately be leading contenders for spots: Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler, Lamar Odom and Chauncey Billups.”

Chris Ballard of SI wrote a great piece on aging: “The opposing team’s 20-year-old point guard advances upon me. He is quicker than I am, can jump higher and, based on how fresh he looks, isn’t feeling the heat. Once upon a time, back when I played in college, I would have owned this kid. Not now. Now I cannot guard both the shot and the drive. Instead, I pick one and hope. That is what I rely on now: hope.”

Jesus/Jon was dubiously born in Bethlehem/Tower of Joy, before emerging from the backwater of Galilee/The North, he is to minister to the meek/dwarf and the prostitute/Dani, while the world is concerned with profane matters and the like, he will save the world from the Demonic forces of evil, lurking on the other side of the wall, the the more rational, proto-atheist characters refuse to believe in.

John the Baptist (Ned Stark) lost his head at the behest of Salome/Herod (Cersei/Joffrey), Ned is really the second degree relative of Jesus Snow, soon to be resurrected, but not executed until well after the death of Herod/Joffrey by (consumed by worms/poison).

The alleged "Bastard Son" has been executed, about to be placed in a tomb, only to be resurrected and revealed as the son of "the true dragon", fighting Armageddon at the head of a "trinity" to bring peace and justice to the world against the forces of evil.

The best thing about GRRM is the food porn every few pages. "The roast kid, its skin rubbed in garlic and herbs, cooked tender crisp on the hearth, sat nested in the mashed turnips, whipped smooth and drowning in clarified butter."

He should write menus for Olive Garden

The worst thing about GRRM is killing everybody, writing yourself into a corner, and then bringing them back to life due to "magic". I'm giving up.

If you've finished ADWD, he's coming back. Trust me.

PS - I wonder how the HBO fans will react to Lady Stark getting killed and coming back as a badly mutilated zombie bent on revenge.

what are you guys favorite games from the season??? I still have most of the playoff games on DVR but i think i'm going to try to get ahold of some of the good games from the season, this lockout is killing me i need to watch some games!!!!

@ Daniel PlainviewLebron could be swapped for Melo actually. Melo always seems to tear up international competition. But Lebron is certainly the better all-around player, especially on defense.

As for Bosh as the 5, yeah pretty much. I wouldn't say that about the NBA, but FIBA ball is a completely different animal. The fact that Bosh can consistently step out to 18 feet and drain jumpers is huge. Being a strong passer and real scoring threat goes a long way. He's also a rather underrated defender. Not a power guy, but lots of length and smart on the contest rather than the block. He's ideal because he won't get into foul trouble and actually is useful offensively (unlike Chandler).

Also, for someone who likes sports and tv- you should watch Friday Night Lights. It has the requisite corniness of a football show/movie, but it is really well done and it has terrific acting (minus minka kelly) and the character development is really good (especially of the coach's family).

@ ThomasReigning MVP will do a lot for you, and the prime other PGs (Paul and Williams) will both be dealing with free agency. Westbrook played primarily off the ball at Worlds (if I remember correctly), so they may still be looking for a truer PG (not that Rose is, but they played him there).

Bosh was the best big man last time because of his ability to shoot and contest without fouling (Howard is a foul machine in international play). Lebron is an ideal international PF because he's a ball-mover and can defend anyone at an elite level. KD is the SF because he is unstoppable offensively against international defenders. Iggy is the designated wing defender, Paul (or Williams really) is a pass-first player who can also shoot lights out if open.

@ kfmsoonerI actually did skip it. I listened to all the books on audiobook, and they changed the narrator for AFFC to this dude who read overdramatized every bit of dialogue in the book. He sounded like the narrator of a 50's radio play reading Edgar Allen Poe. It was unlistenable. I considered buying the book and just reading it, but I don't have a ton of time to devote to reading and what little I do, I like to devote to other stuff. So I just went to Towerofthehand.com and read all the chapter summaries.

@ kfmsoonerI haven't seen Breaking Bad other than the first couple episodes so I can't speak to that. Mad Men is great but I would go for Dexter. The season with Jon Lithgow guest starring (I think its the 3rd) is flat out the absolute peak of TV. It is beyond any superlative I could think of to describe it.

@SammyADWD is good, but a little slow so far...however, the last couple of chapters have finally produced some movement of the plot line. I like most of it up to where I am, but I get a little irked when Martin does things like describe the entire inventory of the Night's Watch storeroom...a good page and a half of a barrel of fish, a tube of crackers, a rack of lamb, 400 bottles of.......

A Feast for Crows could have been skipped. Too little happened. It was a hard read for me.

Breaking Bad is really good. Great acting - new concept for a TV show instead of rehashing the same old thing. You really buy into what's going on and can easily put yourself there with them. Some of the best actor to actor chemistry on screen.

Mad Men is really good too, but it's good because of the painstaking effort put into detail and character development. It's a bit slow, much like The Wire can be, but it pays off.

Dexter is good. Quicker pace episode to episode, lots of plot twists, excellent guest cameo's from season to season, slow character growth over several seasons. Far fetched and hollywood-ized, but still fun.

Ok...since basketball is on vacation, I need something else to fill my time. Just finished the Wire (excellent) and have almost finished season 1 of Boardwalk Empire. What show would you recommend I watch next of these 3:

Season ticket holders are being offered two options from the Thunder. Leave the money in your ticket account to apply towards next season, get 5% interest. The other option is to get refund checks each month there are no games at 1% interest. (per an email I got from the ticket folks)

I tried the King Leonidas beard once with the sculpted chin, but it would have taken beard wax to shape it just right, and I gave up. Besides, it's 108 degrees now, so the beard is down to a constant 5th day growth length.